Collating machine



Sept. 8, 1964 R. E. MARTIN COLLATING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 17, 1962 J I UUMH INVENTOR.

PAL PH E. MAfTl/V ATTORNEY p 8, 1964 R. E. MARTIN 3,147,969

COLLATING MACHINE Filed July 17, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y )6 14 INVEN TOR.

.23 W w Z; ZJz/m) A T TGENE) Sept. 8, 1964 R. E. MARTIN COLLATING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 17, 1962 4 w N .7 m'

E I P INV ENTOR.

RALPH E MART/IV BY fl 2 M 4 TTOENEY R. E. MARTIN 3,147,969

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 COLLATING MACHINE Sept. 8, 1964 Filed July 17, 1962 INVENTOR. EALMEMJEr/N BY AZ'7'0RNEY United States Patent 3,147,969 COLLATING MACHINE Ralph E. Martin, Fort Worth, Tex, assignor to Clary Corporation, San Gabriel, Calif., a corporation of California 7 Filed July 17, 1962, Ser. No. 210,490

10 Claims. (Cl. 270-52) This invention relates to collating machines and has particular reference to machines for collating continuous strips of manifold business forms or the like.

Collating machines of the above type have been constructed heretofore employing an endless band having regularly spaced pins therealong. The band is moved along a strip support table to accumulate and transport continuous perforated strips of preprinted manifold paper in superimposed relation toward a finishing station where the forms are severed and stacked or folded in fan fold manner ready for use. The pins of the pin band maintain the forms in proper registration during the collating process.

The strips are fed from separately spaced supply rolls onto the pin band where they are attached together as by applying adhesive along one edge.

Although such machines of the above type are generally satisfactory, trouble is often encountered in properly feeding the strips onto the pin band at high speeds. This may be due to a number of factors, such as lateral weaving of a strip due to irregularities in the material or possibly due to misalignment of the guide means for the strip material.

A principal object of the present invention is to overcome the above difficulties.

Another object is to insure accurate registration of various superimposed manifold form strips relative to each other particularly when collated at high speeds.

Another object is to materially increase the speed of collating continuous manifold strip material.

Another object is to enable proper collating of extremely thin paper strips such as carbon transfer strips in proper registration.

A still further object is to facilitate lateral adjustment of rolls of strip material during operation of a collating machine.

The manner in which the above and other objects of the invention are accomplished will be readily understood on reference to the following specification when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a collating machine embodying a preferred form of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through one of the collating stations and is taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view through the strip drive unit and associated part of the table at one of the collating stations and is taken substantially along line 44 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional View through one of the strip drive units and is taken substantially along the line 55 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a rear View illustrating part of the drive train for the pin band and one of the strip drive units and is taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view through one of the strip roll support units.

FIG. 8 is a rear view of one of the collating stations.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating the brake controls for the strip rolls.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular, the collating machine comprises, in general, an elongated table 11 having legs 12 for supporting the same at a convenient 3,147,969 Patented Sept. 8, 1964 height above a floor. A vertical wall 13 extends upwardly from the rear of the table to support the various rolls of paper and carbon strips, as will appear later. A flexible endless metal pin band or belt 14 is mounted with its upper strand 14a located in a guide slot 15 (FIG. 4), such upper strand being substantially flush with the top of the table 11.

The pin band is provided with regularly spaced outwardly projecting pins 16, the pins being attached to the pin band and to buttons 17 extending inwardly of the band. The band is supported at its opposite ends for endwise movement by sprockets 18 and 190. The sprockets have teeth 20 (FIG. 5) thereon to engage the buttons 17 and thereby form a driving connection with the band.

A plurality of collating stations 19 are provided along the length of the machine, each including a support shaft 21 for a roll 22 of paper strip 23 and a support shaft 24 for a roll 25 of carbon transfer strip 26.

In most cases, the various paper strips have regularly spaced business forms or the like pre-printed thereon and are perforated along one edge thereof as at 27 (FIG. 2) to fit over the pins of the pin band and thus insure accurate registration of the forms in the resulting manifolded assembly.

During the collating process the various paper strips and their interleaved carbon strips are suitably glued together along the edges thereof adjacent the perforations 27 as will be described presently and are carried by the pin band to a final station 28 where they are trimmed and either cut into individual form pads and stacked or are folded in a fan fold manner. This final station 28 may be of any conventional construction well known in the art and since it forms no part of the present invention it is not described in detail herein.

In accordance with the present invention, each perforated paper strip 23 is continually and positively guided onto the pin band 14 in proper registration with the pins 16 and in superposition with the other strips previously fed onto the pin band at preceding collating stations so that the collator may be operated at very high speeds without damage due to mis-registration. As seen particularly in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, each collating station 19 includes a smooth cylindrical paper guide drum 30 located directly above the pin band. The drum is secured to a shaft 31 rotatably mounted at its forward end in a ballbearing 32 supported by a bracket 33 extending upwardly from the front of the table. The rear end of the shaft is rotatably mounted in a bearing 34 carried by a bracket 35 suitably supported by the rear wall 13.

The drum 30 is hollowed at 36 to form a thin cylindrical flange having spaced openings 37 therein which are arranged to register with the pins 16 on the pin band directly therebelow. A hollow feed wheel or sleeve 38 surrounds the shaft 31 and is rotatably mounted in ballbearings 40 carried by a bearing retainer 41 suitably secured to the wall 13. The sleeve is located eccentrically of the drum 30 with its center C located on a line 42 extending through the center of the shaft 31 at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the horizon.

The sleeve 38 extends within the hollowed portion of the drum 30 and is provided with pins 43 which, at the under side of the sleeve, extend through the openings 37 of the drum and project therebeyond to form a drive for the paper strip as it passes over the drum. An external gear 44 is attached to the sleeve and meshes with an internal gear 45 keyed to the shaft 31. The latter gear is adjustably secured to a gear 46 which meshes with a drive gear 47 driven through a suitable gear transmission unit 48. As shown in FIG. 2, a similar gear unit is provided for each collator station 19. Such gear units are coupled together by shaft sections and are driven =1) by a motor 151. Thus, the motor 151 drives the various gears 47 through respective transmission units 48 and each gear 47, in turn, drives the associated drum 30 through gear 46 and shaft 31.

It will be noted that the pitch diameter of the internal gear 45 is equal to the outer diameter of the drum 30 and the pitch diameter of the external gear 44 is equal to the diameter of a circle concentric with the sleeve 38 and extending tangent to the outer periphery of the drum 30 so that the pins 43 will move at the same velocity as the drum so as to advance the strip with a minimum amount of slippage over the drum.

It will be noted that the openings 37 are larger than the pins 43 and 16. Also, it will be noted in FIGS. and 6 that the gear 47 at the leftmost collator station is entrained with the pin band sprocket 18 through gears 50 and 51 to drive the same. The gear 51 is attached to a shaft 49 carrying the sprocket 18. The size of gear 51 is such that the velocity of the pin band will be equal to the peripheral velocity of the drum. Thus, the pins 16 and 43 will enter into and withdraw from the openings 37 without engaging the sides thereof.

The gear 46 has a flange 52 in which are formed arcuate slots 53 (FIG. 6) to receive bolts 54 threaded into the gear 46. By loosening such bolts, the drum may be angularly adjusted relative to the rest of the machine so as to obtain proper angular relationship between the pins of the sleeve 38 and the pins of the pin band whereby the associated paper strip 23 will be properly guided over the drum and onto the pin band without possibility of moving out of registration with the latter. Also, it will be noted that the pins 43 gradually and smoothly pass through the holes 37 in the drum and through the perforations in the strip and similarly withdraw just as the pins 16 of the pin band gradually enter the same holes and perforations, thus providing complete control of the strip.

As the strip is withdrawn from the roll 22, it passes over a dancer arm 55 which is pivotally supported at 56 and urged clockwise by gravity. From the arm 55 the strip passes over a guide roller 57, past a star wheel 58 and onto the smooth periphery of the drum 30 before engaging the pins 43 of the sleeve 38. Thus, the pins 43 will become effective to properly align the strip as it passes over the drum and before engagement with the pin band.

Means are provided for frictionally driving each roll 22 to reduce the load of driving such roll by the pins 43, thereby enabling such pins to more accurately register the strips without tearing the sprocket hole perforations in the strip 23. For this purpose, a weighted arm 60 is pivotally supported at 61 directly over each roll 22. The arm is provided with an endless belt 62 wrapped over two pulleys 63 and 64 on the arm. The latter pulley is driven by a belt 65 from a pulley 66 (see also FIG. 8) mounted on the pivot shaft 61 of the arm. The latter pulley is driven through a third belt 67 wrapped over a drive pulley 68 connected to a gear 69 meshing with the drive gear 46 of the associated collating station. The belt 62 rests against the periphery of the roll 22 and thus is effective to frictionally drive the same.

The transfer strip roll 25 of each collator station is driven in a similar manner by an endless belt 70 carried by pulleys 71 and 72 supported on a weighted arm 73. The pulley 72 is mounted on the pivot shaft of the arm 73 and is driven through a train of gears 74 (FIG. 8) from the associated gear 69.

The transfer strips 26 may, if desired, be of less width than paper strips 23 and their rear edges, as indicated at 79 in FIG. 2, may terminate short of the perforations 27 in the strips 23 so that no perforations need be punched in such transfer strips.

It will be noted in FIG. 3 that each transfer strip 26, after leaving its roll 25, passes around a dancer arm 75 which is urged clockwise by gravity and thence over a guide bar 59 and onto the guide drum 30. Suitable adhesive applicators 76 and 77 may be located in the path of the strip 23 to apply adhesive to the surface thereof adjacent the perforations 27 to form attached manifolded packs as is well known in the art. The star wheel 53 is driven by an associated gear of the train 74 and is effective, when the applicator 76 is used, to intermittently press the strip 23 against the applicator 76 to thus apply spots of adhesive along the length of the strip.

When it is desired to apply a continuous strip of adhesive to the strip 23, the applicator 77 is used and the applicator 76 is rendered ineffective. Also, two or more applicators may be located side by side.

Referring to FIG. 7, which shows a typical support unit and brake control for the various paper and transfer strip rolls, the shaft 21 is suitably secured to the rear wall 13 and is screw threaded at 78 adjacent its forward end to receive a manually adjustable nut 80. A sleeve 81 surrounds the shaft and has secured thereto adjacent opposite ends thereof the outer races of ball-bearings 82 and 83. The inner races of these bearings are slideable axially along the shaft.

A spacer ring 84, also slideable along the shaft, is interposed between the inner race of bearing 83 and the nut 80. A pair of keys 85 and 86 are slideably fitted in diametrically opposed keyways formed in the shaft directly below the nut 80 and bearing 83. Each key has outwardly extending projections 87 and 88 at the opposite ends thereof to slideably embrace the bearing 83 and the nut. Thus, the nut may be manually adjusted along the shaft, causing the sleeve to follow so as to laterally align a roll of strip material carried by the sleeve relative to the remaining strips. A retainer disc 89 is secured to the outer end of the shaft 21 by a screw 90 to prevent accidental removal of the nut 80.

The sleeve 81 carries a gear 91 keyed thereto which meshes with a wide faced gear 92 suitably secured to the shaft of an electric brake 93. The latter maybe of any well known construction, and as shown in FIG. 9, the energizing coil of such brake is connected in circuit with a switch 94 and a rheostat 95 across a power supply circuit 96.

The switch 94 (see also FIG. 8) is arranged to be actuated by the associated dancer arm 55 or 75 in the associated collator station. Thus, when the section of a strip 23 or 26 extending between its supply roll and the associated guide drum 30 lengthens it will allow the dancer arm to be rocked clockwise to close the associated switch 94 and thereby energize its brake 93 to retard rotation of the supply roll by its friction drive means. As such section shortens, the switch will be opened to release the brake a sufiicient amount to permit the roll to again be driven.

It will be noted that the various rheostats are provided with control knobs 97 located at the front of the table adjacent the corresponding collating station to permit the machine operator to readily control the effectiveness of the brakes as he sees fit.

Although eight collating stations 19 are shown any desired number of such stations may be provided. Also, not all stations need be loaded during operation. Further, if desired, the transfer strips 26 may be omitted in those cases where the strips 23 have suitable transfer coatings applied thereto.

Although the invention has been described in detail and certain specific terms and languages have been used, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is illustrative rather than restrictive and that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth in the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. Feed mechanism for collating machines or the like comprising a feed belt for feeding a strip therealong, said belt having pins spaced therealong and engageable with spaced perforations in said strip, a hollow guide drum arranged to guide said strip onto said belt, said drum having openings therein to receive said pins, a feed wheel within said drum, said wheel being of smaller diameter than said drum, the axis of said wheel being offset from the axis of said drum, and pins on said wheel projectible through said openings and engageable with said perforations of said strip in advance of engagement of said strip by said belt.

2. Feed mechanism for collating machines or the like comprising a feed belt for feeding a strip therealong, said belt having pins spaced therealong and engageable with spaced perforations in said strip, a hollow guide drum arranged to guide said strip onto said belt at a first station, said drum having openings therein to receive said pins, a feed wheel within said drum, the axis of said wheel being oifset from the axis of said drum, and pins on said wheel projectible through said openings at a second station spaced from said first station, said pins of said wheel engaging said perforations of said strip in advance of engagement of said strip by said pins of said belt.

3. Feed mechanism for collating machines or the like comprising a feed belt for feeding a strip therealong, said belt having pins spaced therealong and engageable with spaced perforations in said strip, a guide drum arranged to guide said strip onto said belt at a first station, means rotatably supporting said drum adjacent said belt, a feed wheel having a smaller diameter than said drum, means rotatably supporting said wheel for rotation about an axis extending parallel to the axis of said drum, said axis of said wheel being located intermediate said axis of said drum and the periphery of said drum, and pins on said wheel engageable with said strip as it passes over said drum at a second station spaced from said first station, said pins engaging said perforations of said strip in advance of engagement of said strip by said pins of said belt.

4. Feed mechanism for collating machines or the like comprising a feed belt for feeding a strip therealong, said belt having pins spaced therealong and engageable with spaced perforations in said strip, a hollow guide drum arranged to guide said strip onto said feed belt at a first station, means rotatably supporting said feed drum adjacent said belt, said feed drum having openings therein to receive said pins, a feed wheel, means rotatably supporting said wheel for rotation about an axis extending parallel to the axis of said drum, said axis of said wheel being located intermediate said axis of said drum and the periphery of said drum, and pins on said feed wheel projectible through said openings at a second station spaced from said first station, said pins of said wheel engaging said perforations of said strip in advance of engagement of said strip by said pins of said belt.

5. Feed mechanism for collating machines or the like comprising a feed belt for feeding a strip therealong, said feed belt having pins spaced therealong and engageable with spaced perforations in said strip, a hollow guide drum arranged to guide said strip onto said pins of said belt at a first station, said drum having openings therein to receive said pins, a feed wheel within said drum, means rotatably supporting said wheel eccentrically of said drum, pins in said wheel projectible through said openings at a second station spaced from said first station, said pins of said wheel engaging said perforations of said strip in advance of engagement of said strip by said pins of said belt, and means for separately driving said belt, said drum and said Wheel in synchronism with each other.

6. Feed mechanism for collating machines or the like comprising a feed belt for feeding a strip therealong, said belt having pins spaced therealong and engageable with spaced perforations in said strip, a. guide drum arranged to guide said strip onto said belt, means rotatably supporting said drum adjacent said belt, a feed wheel having a smaller diameter than said drum, means rotatably supporting said wheel for rotation about an axis extending parallel to the axis of said drum, said axis of said wheel being located intermediate said axis of said drum and the periphery of said drum, pins on said wheel engageable with said strip as it passes over said drum, said pins engaging said perforations of said strip in advance of engagement of said strip by said pins of said belt, and means for separately driving said belt, said drum and said wheel in synchronism with each other.

7. Feed mechanism for collating machines or the like comprising a feed belt for feeding superimposed strips therealong, said belt having pins spaced therealong and engageable with spaced perforations in said strips, a hollow drum arranged to guide one of said strips onto said pins of said belt and in superimposition with others of said strips on said belt at one station, said drum having openings therein to receive said pins, a feed wheel within said drum, means rotatably supporting said Wheel eccentrically of said drum, pins on said wheel projectible through said openings at a second station spaced from said first station, said pins of said wheel engaging said perforations of said one strip in advance of engagement of said one strip by said pins of said belt, said openings being larger than said pins of said wheel and said belt, and means for separately driving said belt, said drum and said Wheel in synchronism with each other.

8. Feed mechanism for collating machines or the like comprising a feed belt for feeding a strip therealong, said belt having pins spaced therealong engageable with spaced perforations in said strip, a rotatable drive shaft, a guide drum carried by said shaft and adapted to guide said strip onto said belt at a first station, a hollow feed wheel surrounding said shaft, means rotatably supporting said wheel eccentrically of said shaft and said drum, pins on said wheel engageable with said perforations as said strip passes over said drum and at a second station in advance of said first station, an internal gear carried by said shaft, said gear having a pitch diameter equal to the diameter of said drum, and an external gear carried by said wheel and meshing with said internal gear whereby to drive said wheel in synchronism with said drum.

9. Feed mechanism for collating machines or the like comprising a feed belt for feeding a strip therealong, said belt having pins spaced therealong engageable with spaced perforations in said strip, a rotatable drive shaft, a hollow guide drum carried by said shaft and adapted to guide said strip onto said belt at a first station, said drum having openings therein to receive said pins, a hollow feed wheel surrounding said shaft, means rotatably supporting said wheel eccentrically of said shaft and said drum, pins on said wheel engageable with said perforations as said strip passes over said drum and at a second station in advance of said first station, said pins on said wheel pro jecting through said openings in said drum at said second station, an internal gear carried by said shaft, said gear having a pitch diameter equal to the diameter of said drum, and an external gear carried by said wheel and meshing with said internal gear whereby to drive said Wheel in synchronism with said drum.

l0. Feed mechanism for collating machines or the like comprising a feed belt for feeding a strip therealong, said belt having pins spaced therealong engageable with spaced perforations in said strip, a rotatable drive shaft, a hollow guide drum carried by said shaft and adapted to guide said strip onto said belt at a first station, said drum having openings therein to receive said pins, a hollow feed wheel surrounding said shaft, means rotatably supporting said wheel eccentrically of said shaft and said drum, pins on said wheel engageable with said perforations as said strip passes over said drum and at a second station in advance of said first station, said openings being larger than said pins, an internal gear carried by said shaft, said gear having a pitch diameter equal to the diameter of said drurn, an external gear carried by said Wheel and meshing with said internal gear, and means for separately driving said belt and said shaft whereby to separately drive said belt, said drum and said wheel in synchronisrn with each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Suggs Apr. 18, 1911 Stiegler Sept. 13, 1949 Nield July 1, 1952 Burgmer Jan. 20, 1959 Witt Mar. 27, 1962 Benson et a1. Jan. 1, 1963 

1. FEED MECHANISM FOR COLLATING MACHINES OR THE LIKE COMPRISING A FEED BELT FOR FEEDING A STRIP THEREALONG, SAID BELT HAVING PINS SPACED THEREALONG AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SPACED PERFORATIONS IN SAID STRIP, A HOLLOW GUIDE DRUM ARRANGED TO GUIDE SAID STRIP ONTO SAID BELT, SAID DRUM HAVING OPENINGS THEREIN TO RECEIVE SAID PINS, A FEED WHEEL WITHIN SAID DRUM, SAID WHEEL BEING OF SMALLER DIAMETER THAN SAID DRUM, THE AXIS OF SAID WHEEL BEING OFFSET FROM THE AXIS OF SAID DRUM, AND PINS ON SAID WHEEL PROJECTIBLE THROUGH SAID OPENINGS AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID PERFORATIONS OF SAID STRIP IN ADVANCE OF ENGAGEMENT OF SAID STRIP BY SAID BELT. 